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Mark Kelly: NRA gun plan is a bust

Former astronaut Mark Kelly — husband of former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords — says the NRA’s plan to put an armed guard in all schools across the country “will not work.”

“I don’t think that will work. Gabby and I are both very strong supporters of the Second Amendment. You know, I defended the Constitution, I defended the Second Amendment flying in combat in Iraq and Kuwait defending our country,” Kelly said on CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360” on Monday. “Gabby owns a gun, I own a gun. This really isn’t about the Second Amendment, I don’t believe it is — it’s about gun safety and the safety of the public.”

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Giffords, a Democrat, was one of 13 people wounded in a shooting that killed six others at a Jan. 8, 2011, event with her then-constituents in Tucscon, Ariz. She did not seek reelection in order to focus on her recovery.

Since the shooting, she and her husband have become advocates for gun legislation reform — launching a PAC to counter the National Rifle Association’s influence and recently visiting with some of the families of those who lost children in the Dec. 14 shooting in Newtown, Conn., at Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 20 kids and six others were killed.

In wake of the Sandy Hook shooting, the NRA proposed putting an armed guard in every school in the country.

Kelly said on CNN it could even lead to a slippery slope of armed guards at other public places.

“[What] do you do, do you put a security guard on a school bus? How about in a church or a movie theater? When does it end? What it really comes down to is Congress doing the right thing and coming up with some responsible, common-sense changes to gun violence laws,” Kelly said on CNN.

The White House is expected to announce gun reform proposals later this week.